THE COACHES: WSU - Bill Doba (Ball State '62) is in his first season as WSU's head coach (9-3) and in his first season as a college head coach (9-3). TEXAS - The Longhorns are coached by Mack Brown, currently in his sixth year at Texas...Brown has a 59-17 record at Texas and a 145-91-1 20-year career record, including stints at North Carolina (1988-97 when he was 69-46-1), Tulane (1985-87 when he was 11-23) and Appalachian State (1983 when he was 6-5).

WSU VS. TEXAS: The Cougars and Longhorns have met twice, with Texas winning both games...in 1954 Texas took a 40-14 win from WSU in Austin (Oct. 2), while in 1961 (Oct. 9) the Longhorns won 41-8, also in Austin.

COUGARS 14/15/16 IN POLLS: Washington State is currently ranked 15th in the Associated Press media poll and 14th in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll...the Cougars are 16th in the final BCS ranking.

ALL-PAC-10: Five WSU Cougars have been named to the all-Pacific-10 Conference first team, six were second team selections and six were honorable mention picks...the first-team selections were OL Josh Parrish, LB Will Derting, CB Jason Davis, S Erik Coleman and PK Drew Dunning. (See page 2 for full listing)

DOBA CO-COACH OF THE YEAR: WSU rookie head coach Bill Doba has been named the Pacific-10 Conference Co-Coach-of-the-Year, along with Pete Carroll of USC...Doba's Cougars are 9-3 and headed to the Holiday Bowl...only two other rookie head coaches have just three losses in their first season, Bowling Green's Gregg Brandon (10-3) and Louisville's Bobby Petrino (9-3).

DUNNING, DAVID BASLER MAKE SEMI-FINAL LISTS: Three WSU Cougar players were selected among the best in the country at their respective positions...cornerback Jason David was named one of 12 semi-finalists for the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation's premier defensive back...Drew Dunning was one of 20 semi-finalists for the Lou Groza Award, given each year to the top place kicker in the nation...Dunning also was a semi-finalist in 2001..Basler was one of 10 semi-finalists for the Ray Guy Award given to the nation's top punter.

17 COUGS ON PACIFIC-10 TEAM: A league-high 17 players from Washington State were selected to the All-Pac-10 team, including five on the first team, six on the second team and six honorable mention picks...12 of WSU's selections are seniors, two are juniors and three are sophomores...

WSU BOWL RECORD: WSU's appearance in the 2003 Pacific Life Holiday Bowl will be WSU's 10th bowl appearance and second in the Holiday Bowl...WSU is 5-4 in nine previous bowl games:

1916 Rose Bowl - WSU 14, Brown 0 (W)

1931 Rose Bowl - Alabama 24, WSU 0 (L)

1981 Holiday Bowl - BYU 38, WSU 36 (L)

1988 Aloha Bowl - WSU 24, Houston 22 (W)

1992 Copper Bowl - WSU 31, Utah 28 (W)

1994 Alamo Bowl - WSU 10, Baylor 3 (W)

1998 Rose Bowl - Michigan 21, WSU 16 (L)

2001 Sun Bowl - WSU 33, Purdue 27 (W)

2002 Rose Bowl - Oklahoma 34, WSU 14 (L)

COUGAR BOWL ITINERARY: The WSU Cougars will practice at home Dec. 11-12-13-14 and Dec. 18-19-20-21, then depart Dec. 23 for San Diego...once at the Holiday Bowl, WSU will conduct a short practice Dec. 23, a regular practice Dec. 24, then resume practices Dec. 26-27-28-29...most practices will be open for media and fans through Saturday, Dec. 27...WSU will headquarter at the Sheraton Harbor Island Hotel and practice at San Diego State University.

SCORING STREAKS: WSU currently has three significant scoring streaks on the line:

The Cougars have scored in 219 consecutive Pacific-10 games, the longest active streak for any league team...the last time WSU was shut out in Pac-10 play was at Oregon State in 1975;

WSU has scored in 226 consecutive games since a 44-0 shutout at Ohio State in 1984...the streak is the fourth longest among D-I schools.

The Cougars have scored in 178 consecutive Martin Stadium home games since a 21-0 loss to Oregon State in Pullman in 1956.

COUGS 29-8 THE LAST THREE SEASONS: Since the start of the 2001 season, WSU has won 29 of 37 games and is eighth among D-I teams the past three years: Miami 34-3, Oklahoma 35-5, Texas 32-6, Boise State 30-6, Ohio State 31-7, Georgia 31-8, , Marshall 30-8, WSU 29-8.

THREE COUGS ON CoSIDA ACADEMIC TEAM: Three members of the WSU football team have been selected to the CoSIDA All-District 8 Academic All-America team - first team members Jeremey Williams and Troy Bienemann and Riley Fitt-Chappell on the second team...

ALL-PAC-10 ACADEMIC: Six WSU players have been named to the 2003 Pacific-10 Conference academic team, headed by four-time first team honoree Jeremey Williams...he is the fifth conference player to earn first team honors four times...

BOYD, JORDAN HONORED: Two WSU freshmen, tight end Cody Boyd and receiver Chris Jordan, are two of 62 players named by Rivals.com to its freshman All-America team.

WSU TRAVEL PARTNER: WSU's official travel partner for the upcoming Holiday Bowl is Dodds Athletic Tours...special travel packages for WSU fans can be arranged by calling 1-877-716-1982, or on line at www.doddsathletictours.com/wsu.

BROWN, ACHOLONU AMONG TFL/SACK LEADERS: WSU's senior defensive ends, D.D. Acholonu and Isaac Brown, both rank among the leaders at WSU in both tackles-for-losses and in sacks, and in yardage lost for both categories...while Brown started throughout the 2002 season, Acholonu started his first game against Idaho earlier this year...

SACKS AND INTERCEPTIONS: WSU leads the nation with 161 sacks over the last four seasons, while Texas is second with 160, then TCU 158...WSU and Miami each have 92 interceptions since the start of the 1999 season, ranking fourth nationally behind Oklahoma, 101, Kansas State, 97, and Nebraska 93...

PAC-10 HONORS COUGARS: Five Washington State football players have been honored eight times by the Pacific-10 Conference this year with Player-of-the-Week honors:

PK Drew Dunning Week 1 and 4: honored for his special team play against Idaho when he booted four field goals and one extra point; honored again for his five field goals against New Mexico.

LB Will Derting Week 2 and 9: the defensive POW winner for his 12-tackle performance against Notre Dame that included three sacks and one forced fumble, which led to a touchdown...he then won the award for his eight tackle, three-sack performance against Oregon State; he also forced one fumble against the Beavers;

QB Matt Kegel Week 3: the league's offensive POW after throwing for 310 yards in WSU's win at Colorado...he had three touchdown passes and was 17-of-33 with one interception.

SS Jeremy Bohannon Week 5: the league's special teams POW after intercepting a pass that led to a first quarter touchdown and then recovered a blocked punt and returned it four yards for a TD in WSU's 55-16 win over #10 Oregon.

FS Erik Coleman Week 11: the league's defensive POW and the special teams POW after making 10 tackles, forcing two fumbles, intercepting two passes and deflecting one pass against UCLA.

WSU JUMPS TO EARLY LEADS: WSU has outscored opponents 123-25 in the first quarter and 211-94 in the first half...WSU holds a 88-69 second quarter scoring advantage and 90-73 in the fourth quarter...only in the third quarter has WSU been outscored, 67-65...the only first quarter points allowed by the Cougs have been touchdowns by Colorado, Oregon State (interception return) and ASU, a safety by Oregon, and a field goal by USC.

WSU STARTS STRONG AFTER BOWL GAMES: The Cougars, in recent years, have started the season strong coming off a bowl game appearance...in 1989 (after the 1988 Aloha Bowl) the Cougars started 6-1...in 1993 (after the 1992 Copper Bowl) WSU started 5-2...in 1995 (after the 1994 Alamo Bowl) WSU started 3-2...in 1998 (after the 1997 Rose Bowl season) WSU started 3-0...in 2002 (after the 2001 Sun Bowl) WSU started 9-1...this year (after the 2002 Rose Bowl season) WSU is 9-3.

BLOCK THOSE KICKS: WSU has blocked four placement kicks this season and blocked three punts...in WSU's opener against Idaho, freshman Cody Boyd got his hand on two field goal attempts by the Vandals, helping preserve WSU's shutout...he also had a blocked PAT against New Mexico...at Colorado defensive tackle Steve Cook blocked the Buffs' first PAT attempt...against Oregon D.D. Acholonu and Jason Hill each blocked a Duck punt, while Erik Coleman blocked a punt against ASU.

DUNNING SETS RECORD: Senior Drew Dunning has set four records this year and could set others before the season ends:

Dunning set a WSU single game record with five field goals against New Mexico, hitting from 37-36-23-21-49 yards;

Dunning broke Jason Hanson's WSU career field goal mark when he hit two against ASU;

Dunning bested Jason Hanson's WSU career scoring record with 13 points at Washington;

Dunning broke his own WSU single-season scoring record this year with 114 points;

In 2001 Dunning set a WSU record for kickers with 101 points and then broke his own record with 113 points in 2002

This year Dunning is really on a tear...he currently is fourth nationally with 27 field goals in 30 attempts (90.0%):

Dunning's field goal percentage (78.2%) is also a WSU career school record.

BALANCED OFFENSE: The Cougars have a reputation of being a passing team, but over the past 10 years have actually run the ball more times than they have thrown...in 10 years WSU has run 4,588 rushing plays (50.3%), 4,527 passing plays...this year WSU has rushed the ball 451 times and thrown 446 passes.

TURNOVERS = 136 POINTS: WSU has turned 23 of the opponent's 45 turnovers into 136 points this year...the Cougars have taken the ball away from the opponents 24 times with interceptions and have recovered 21 of the opponents' 38 fumbles:

Sammy Moore MAKES CRUCIAL CATCHES: Senior Sammy Moore is becoming known as the Big Play guy...here's a look at some of Moore's big plays in 2002 and 2003:

2002 - Caught a 53-yard pass from Jason Gesser to set up a WSU field goal in the closing minutes against USC...the field goal tied the game and WSU then won in OT...Moore pulled a hamstring on the play and missed the next two games;

2002 - In the Rose Bowl Moore returned a kickoff 89 yards for a WSU touchdown;

2003 - At Notre Dame he made a great catch of a 34-yard TD pass from Matt Kegel, allowing WSU to tie the Irish and send the game into overtime;

2003 - At Colorado Moore picked up a bobbled kickoff and raced 97 yards for a touchdown;

In WSU's win over tenth ranked Oregon he had a 43 yard pass reception and a 41-yarder that went for a touchdown.

Returned a punt 64 yards to the three-yard line in the fourth quarter at Stanford; WSU then scored for a 21-7 lead;

Returned a kickoff 50 yards against OSU.

MOORE ON NEAR-RECORD PACE:Sammy Moore is averaging 122 all-purpose yards per game, which puts him on pace to finish the year with 1,586 yards...that would place him fourth on WSU's single season list...the top four are Bernard Jackson (2,118 in 1971), Steve Broussard (1,790 in 1989), Rueben Mayes (1,768 in 1984) and Broussard (1,533 in 1988)...Moore has 467 receiving yards, 337 punt return yards and 656 kickoff return yards for 1,460 yards.

WSU START AMONG BEST: WSU's 9-3 start in 2003 equals the fourth best record for the Cougars through 12 games...the 1997 and 2001 teams finished 10-2, while the 2002 team was 10-2 and finished 10-3...the best start was 9-0 by the 1930 team (finished 9-1, losing to Alabama in the Rose Bowl).

DAVID SETS INTERCEPTION RECORDS:Jason David now stands second on the career interception list with 16 and now holds three career interception records:

David has a school record 318 career interception return yards, bettering Rick Reed's mark of 231, 1966-68;

David has a school record two interceptions returns for touchdowns this year, a 41-yard return at Colorado and a 34-yard return against Arizona

David has a school record three career interception returns for touchdowns, two this year and a 45-yard return in the 2001 Sun Bowl;

David has 16 career interceptions, second to WSU record holder Lamont Thompson, who had 24, 1997-01;

David has 144 interception return yards this season, second to record holder Lionel Thomas' 156 return yards in 1969...David needs 13 return yards to pass Thomas;

Davis's six interceptions this year ranks eighth on the single season list.

COUGAR SPECIAL TEAMS HOT: College Football News predicted WSU has the fifth best special team units in college football...they base their prediction on the basis of kicker Drew Dunning, punter Kyle Basler and return specialist Sammy Moore...so far this season WSU's special team units have lived up to the billing...Basler is averaging 43.9 yards per punt (16th nationally) and has dumped 25 of his 70 kicks inside the 20 yard line...his long this year is a career best 65 yards...Dunning has hit 27 of 30 field goals (1st nationally) and has scored 114 points in 12 games...Moore is also having a great year, averaging 23.4 yards per kickoff return and 8.6 yards on punt returns...he also has a 97-yard kickoff return for a TD to his credit, along with four receiving touchdowns.

COUGS LIMIT THIRD DOWNS: WSU rarely allows an opponent a third down conversion in the first and fourth quarters and only a 24% success rate for the game...opponent conversions are 7-for-44 in the first quarter, 13-for-57 in the second quarter, 16-for-44 in the third quarter and 8-for-41 in the fourth quarter, a total of 44-for-186 (23.7%) for the season...WSU did not allow a first quarter third down conversion in five straight games and none in the fourth quarter in four straight games...

KEGEL IN WSU TOP 10 LISTS:Matt Kegel has moved into WSU's single season Top 10 list in several passing categories, despite missing much of the last three games due to a shoulder injury...he suffered a partial dislocation of his right shoulder against Arizona, dislocated his left shoulder against Stanford, and suffered a right shoulder AC sprain against UCLA...the AC sprain has proved to be the most series...

KEGEL ON OTHER LISTS:Matt Kegel, on other single season lists, ranks 8th in TD passes with 19, seventh in completions with 200 and seventh in pass attempts with 362...in career lists, he is tied for eighth with 22 TD passes.

TURNOVERS: WSU is +7 in turnovers for 2003...in the last 15 years, WSU is -30 in turnovers...only twice has WSU had fewer turnovers than the opponents, +12 in 2001 and +9 in 1994, while the turnovers were even in 1995.

NOTHING LIKE HOME: WSU performs better at home than on the road, as do most schools...since 1989, at home, the Cougars are 51-32 (61.4%) and on the road the team is 41-49 (45.6%)...WSU's 6-0 Pullman record in 1997 is the best ever for the Cougars, while the 2001 record of 6-1 is the best on the road since the 1988 team also went 6-1.

WSU DEFENSE HALTS LONG RUSHES: In the last 15 years WSU has allowed just 173 runs of 20 yards or longer in 173 games...this year the Cougars have allowed 9 runs of 20 or more yards and 21 runs of 10-19 yards.

COUGS IN PAC-10 RANKINGS: WSU ranks first in the Pac-10 in opponent third down conversions, field goals and pass efficiency defense...WSU is second in six categories, rushing, scoring and total defense, punting, turnover margin and sacks...Erik Coleman leads the league in interceptions and Drew Dunning is first in field goals and field goal percentage...ranked second is D.D. Acholonu in sacks, Kyle Basler in punting, Jason David in passes defended, Scott Davis in fumbles recovered, Dunning in scoring and scoring by kicks and Sammy Moore in all-purpose running.

COUGS IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: The Cougars nationally are ranked sixth in rushing defense and pass efficiency defense, 10th in net punting, 19th in total defense, 22nd in passing offense, 24th in scoring defense and 20th in turnover margin.

COUGS SCORE OFTEN: Since 1980 WSU has averaged 26.3 points per game...this year WSU is averaging 30.5 points per outing and last year the average was 33.2 points.

RUSHING TOTALS UNDER 100: In the last 15 years WSU has held 70 of 173 opponents to less than 100 yards rushing...the lows include Montana State -35 (1993), Arizona -17 (2002), Pacific -6 (1993) and Montana's -6 (1995)...in those 171 games, WSU held opponents to 50 or less yards 20 times...Notre Dame, USC and UCLA are the only teams this year to go over 100 yards.

100-YARD RUSHERS FEW: Only 63 running backs have been able to crack the 100-yard mark in the last 15 years and 173 games against WSU's defense...USC's LenDale White and UCLA's Tyler Ebell are the only backs this year to top 100 yards rushing against WSU.

COUGS BOAST STARTING EXPERIENCE: WSU fields an experienced team in 2003, with 41 players having started at least one game...in all, the Cougars boast a collective 570 starts, 273 by defensive players, 234 by offensive players and 63 by kickers.

DEFENSE EXPERIENCED: Eleven WSU defensive players have each played in 30 or more games and six others have seen action in at least 20 games...in all 16 defensive players who have made 273 starts have also played in a collective 542 games:

WSU's top defensive linemen have a collective 105 starts and have played in 214 games;

Six linebackers have a collective 75 starts and have seen action in 170 games;

In the secondary four players have started 105 games and have played in 157 games.

OFFENSE HAS 223 STARTS: WSU boasts 23 offensive players who have made a collective 234 starts during their career and have seen action in 505 games...one Cougar lineman, Josh Parrish, has played in 42 games, while six other linemen have seen action in 20 or more games:

19 of the 23 offensive players have tasted action in 10 or more games

Up front, there are nine players who have started 128 games and played in 220 games;

WSU receivers have a collective 74 starts and have played in 180 games;

RED ZONE: In 2003 WSU has scored 40 times in 51 trips into the Red Zone, 22 touchdowns and 18 field goals...the failures have been five interceptions, three fumbles, once on downs and two times at the end of the half...opponents have scored 16 touchdowns and 9 field goals in 34 Red Zone appearance...the failures were a blocked field goal, a missed field goal, three interception, twice on downs and two fumbles lost.

COUGS AGAINST RANKED TEAMS SINCE 1995: WSU is 11-20 against ranked teams since 1995...when WSU has also been ranked, the Cougars are 5-7.

COLEMAN SIXTH WITH 12 INTERCEPTIONS: Safety Erik Coleman is having a banner senior year...he is second among cougar tacklers with 82 and leads the team with seven interceptions, which ties him for third on the WSU single season list...Coleman has five interceptions in the last six games...in his career Coleman ranks tied for sixth with 12 interceptions...Eric Johnson, 1971-73, also had 12 career picks...the record is held by Rick Reed, 14, while Bill Lippincott and Lionel Thomas, each had 13...

SUCCESS ON THE ROAD: WSU has won 10 of its last 13 Pac-10 road games...WSU closed out the end of the 2000 season with a win at USC...in 2001 the Cougars defeated Arizona, Stanford and ASU on the road before a loss at Washington, while in 2002 WSU defeated California, Stanford, Arizona and UCLA in Pac-10 action...this year WSU has won at Oregon and Stanford and lost at USC and Washington.

COUG DEFENSE HALTS RUSHING TDs: WSU opponents have not a great deal of success rushing for touchdowns against the Cougars this year...

DARLING HAULS IN 18 TD PASSES: Junior Devard Darling has caught 18 touchdown passes in his career, 11 last year and seven so far this season...he is now tied for second in career TD receptions...Hugh Campbell owns the record with 22, while Nian Taylor and Deron Pointer also had 18 TD receptions...Darling has topped the 100-yard mark four times in his career, 133 against Oregon and 109 at California last year and this season 113 against New Mexico and 108 against ASU...Darling has caught at least two passes in 23 of his 25 games as a Cougar...the only times he has been shut out were against Washington last year and UCLA this season:

Don Jackson ALL OVER THE FIELD: Senior linebacker Don Jackson has been making tackles all over the field the last three weeks and now leads the team in tackles with 91...Jackson is coming off a team-high 15 tackles at Washington and had 11 tackles in the two games before last week's performance, giving him 37 tackles in the last three games...his high going into the last three games was nine tackles in road games against both Notre Dame and Stanford...a transfer who joined WSU last year, Jackson has started all 12 games this season and has 8.0 TFL, 3.0 sacks, one interception (at Oregon), two forced fumbles, two pass deflections and eight QB hurries.

COUGS AMONG SACK LEADERS: WSU finished the regular season with 43 sacks, second to USC's 46...the Coug's seven sacks against Oregon State earlier in the season marked the fifth time in the past two years the Cougar defense has recorded six or more sacks in a game...WSU also had seven sacks at Notre Dame earlier this season...the Cougars recorded a sack in 22 straight games between 2001 and the Arizona game earlier this season...WSU sack totals this year are Idaho 3, Notre Dame 7, Colorado 2, New Mexico 4, Oregon 4, Arizona 0, Stanford 4, OSU 7, USC 1, UCLA 4, ASU 3, Washington 4.

COUG TD STREAK: WSU quarterbacks threw touchdown passes in every game during the 2001 and 2002 seasons and in 10 of 12 games this year...the two games when WSU didn't throw a TD pass were against Idaho to open the 2003 season in Seattle, and at home against New Mexico...WSU won both games without going to the air for a score...the last time WSU didn't throw a TD pass at an opponents home field or in a bowl game was at Hawai'i to close out the 1999 season...since then WSU has thrown at least one TD pass in 23 straight games played at the opponent's field or in a bowl game.

BASLER AMONG BEST IN THE NATION:Kyle Basler stacks up well in the Ray Guy Award's primary categories (average, punts inside the 20, 5 of punts inside the 20, number of returns, % of non-returned punts)finishing second among the 10 semi-finalists...the sophomore's numbers have vastly improved from his freshman season...his average improved from 41.1 yards to 43.9 and more importantly, his net average is up from 35.3 yards to 41.0...he had 15 punts inside the 20 as a freshman, 25 this year...he allowed 19 returns for 288 yards last year, while this year the returns are up to 27, but the return yards are down from 288 to 202...last year he had 10 punts 50 yards or longer, this year 19.

MULTIPLE RECEIVERS: At least seven WSU players caught passes in each of the Cougars' first nine games this year and in 10 of the 12 games...in all, six wide receivers, two tight ends and three running backs have catches...only three players had receptions in WSU's win over UCLA and six players caught passes in a win over ASU.

COUGS LEAD PAC-10 LAST THREE YEARS: The WSU Cougars boast the best record among Pacific-10 Conference schools over the past three years, topping the list in overall wins and in conference victories (tied with USC)...

BROWN, TUPAI PLAY EVERY GAME: Seniors Tai Tupai and Isaac Brown will play in their 49th Cougar game when WSU takes on Texas in the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl Dec. 30...no other WSU players have played in as many games as the two Cougar defensive stars...Tupai was born in Seattle, grew up in Monterey, Calif., and now calls Pullman his home...Tupai, who originally signed with WSU in February of 1999, delayed his enrollment until January, 2000...he played in 11 games in the fall of 2000, 12 games as a sophomore in 2001, 13 games last year and now 12 games this season, with one contest yet to be played...Brown, from Upland, Calif., also signed with WSU in 1999 and enrolled that fall, only to redshirt his first season...like Tupai, Brown then played in all 11 games in 2000, 12 games in 2001, 13 games in 2002 and all 12 games so far this season.

STREAKING COUGARS: WSU has won six of eight and 10 of 13 Pac-10 road games, seven of eight Pac-10 games in California, 11 of 12 games against California schools and seven of the last nine league games.